Jar Time w/ Jeff: 20 Questions, One Jar - 11/30/2011

PS Battlefield 3 on a super fast computer is the greatest shooter ever

@Mdk5631: PM him using his Anime Vice box

thanks

@EricSmith said:

Without a doubt, this is my favorite GB feature.

"You guys are fucking weird" -Jeff

I really enjoy these videos, Jeff. Thanks for doing them.

Didn't every reviewer give MGS IV a free pass for Metal Gear Online? That should have dragged that score down a bit

HELL YEAH, WHEN I SEE JEFF WITH A LADY I'M GONNA YELL AT HIM AND TALK ABOUT HOW COOL HE IS.

Something about Jeff's eyes this episode scared me. It was like he was staring into my soul and planting seeds of darkness.

Don't hurt me, Jeff. :(

It saddens me to see that Japanese games aren't as successful now. If they no longer are a player on the market I feel that games will start to look too samey.

*EDIT* At one of the last questions regarding "Man-cave": I just came out of a short term relationship that ended because I wasn't really in love with her and we didn't want the same thing in the future. I have the ambition to move into a larger apartment next year because my income supports it and I want a nice big place to live in where I don't have to worry about space as much. She put out the statement at one point that "Then you can have a room for all your game stuff", which I kind of had planned for myself, but the way she kind of made it to sound like there shouldn't be, like, an arcade machine in the living room instinctively made me think "Nope! Fuck you!" as well. The reason we broke up though was that she has the ambition to move into a collective and have farm animals and that sorta shit.

Another informative Jar vid. Although, is it just me or did Jeff seem more irritable than usual in this video? Kinda feel bad for that B3 review score question guy :/

I had to turn this one off.

I realize sometimes these aren't always the best questions, but to insult the people asking them is...kinda cruel, especially when they're a big enough fan of your site to pay money to see you do so.

@MildMolasses said:

Didn't every reviewer give MGS IV a free pass for Metal Gear Online? That should have dragged that score down a bit

It is kind of a weird thing, isn't it? There are loads of games with some tacked on multiplayer and nobody really gives a shit. I think that's where the difference lies. Nobody gives a shit about the multiplayer content on a single player game, however people who buy a multiplayer game are probably still going to touch the single player content. Sure there are a ton of Call of Dudy bros who never touch the campaign, but I think that ratio is less extreme than those who didn't play Bioshock 2's multiplayer.

People care about it, so it get considered more heavily.

@Rmack: So I guess people would get their money's worth if they get a coddled, fake nice answer?

Sure, it could have been done differently, but you have to wonder what goes through some people's heads when review scores matter that much to them. Jeff does reviews for a living, and to see him say that it shouldn't really fucking matter is the kind of honesty I (and maybe other people) would gladly pay for.

For some reason i feel really depressed after watching this...

Indeed, we are fucking weird.

@Lunar_Aura: I completely agree with Jeff's stance on review scores, I just think he could have been more civil in expressing it. Calling the guy fucking weird and telling him (or her) to stop playing video games "if he's gotten to this point" just seemed unnecessarily harsh. You're right; people shouldn't get fake answers, but I don't like watching them be insulted either (unless they're trying to insult Jeff...then by all means, really).

come to the midwest and have a steak!

Frankly, I wouldn't mind one of these from each of the GiantBomb crew...

@Rmack: Being insulted sucks but Jeff was right, to a point, but why should people care what a game scores if they're mind is already made up? It's almost like an insecurity in some people be it games, movies, books etc If you like a game wtf does it matter if other people don't agree with you or it doesn't get the score it deserves?

So I should stop doing reenactments of Peter Pan in my man cave?

@Rmack said:

@Lunar_Aura: I completely agree with Jeff's stance on review scores, I just think he could have been more civil in expressing it. Calling the guy fucking weird and telling him (or her) to stop playing video games "if he's gotten to this point" just seemed unnecessarily harsh. You're right; people shouldn't get fake answers, but I don't like watching them be insulted either (unless they're trying to insult Jeff...then by all means, really)

I agree, I don't think that guy deserved to be replied to like that. It was a dumb question, sure, but you don't have to insult someone to make your point. Up until this video, Jeff has been doing a good job of giving honest answers without insulting the question asker. Besides, that guy's most likely a supporter of Giant Bomb and someone who respects Jeff, just like the rest of us; he probably meant no harm by his question.

Man Jeff goes on some interesting benders

Jeff be angry in this one. Maybe he just had a long day. Still entertaining.

Jeff, you should just ignore any question that contains "review score" or anything related. By now everyone should know your stance on review scores, and people that get all hung up on them will continue to do so because they enjoy being told what they should buy/like by others.

I still like your answers regarding scores(tell it like it is!), but it takes the spot of an actually good question.

Excellent episode. I still enjoy a vast majority of GB videos as they come out and keep me informed and entertained - like I did from the beginning - but these really excite me when a new one turns up. A couple of thoughts on the topics:

1) I'm happy you decided to consider Bastion for awards. The episodes on its development where amazing and obviously prevented you from reviewing the game in a conventional fashion but that should not deny the game its shot at possibly earning a place in the most noteworthy games of the year.

2) I liked the fact that you addressed BF3 reviews again and clarified some more points on general methodology. I have to admit that the focus of reviews on perceived flaws of the SP weirded me out a bit at least as I had my gut reaction. But I definitely see your stance on that and it's not like anyone could really ever satisfy self-declared MP fanatics. The campaign is actually well worth a shot since I had quite a bit of fun chugging some beers with a buddy and blazing through the missions on two sittings. The MP offers the new version of unique BF-brand craziness which is very good although I don't see myself spending anywhere near the time I did on previous entries, which says a lot considering I went crazy for BF games on a couple of occasions before. Then again, maybe I'm just burned out from playing BFBC2 to death since it came out.

I could ramble on and tackle more fascinating issues of this episode but that seems a bit excessive so I'll leave it at that. Great job & I can't wait for the next one!

@Sanj: Well if it's any consolation to the guy who got railed on, he just got called weird by a guy who used to be a hardcore achievement whore and gave Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 a 10/10. I like Jeff and all and agree with most of his rants, but let's not confuse his judgment as gospel.

@White_Silhouette said:

@Mdk5631: PM him using his Anime Vice box

Anime is for jars.

"Dig Deeper into Jeff Gerstmann"

what?

Being an adult is pointless. Study, work, get married, have kids, die. What the fuck for?

I think that Jeff should make it a habit of closing these with some sort of life coaching advice as he did here and in at least one previous episode.

By the way Jeff, that companion without gear thing is actually a bug. I thought the same thing until it happened to someone I was grouping with that I knew had gear equipped.

Bummer, I got a talking to.

I used seventh-generation because I didn't want confusion about which era I was referring to. It was a problem for a while because next-gen was still being used for this one. Still would've liked if you had answered the question about rereleases. :/

I wonder if I can start this video... minimize.. open up Skyrim and listen while playing... could... could my computer handle that...? Let's try..

I like what Jeff said about having different levels of privacy controls for social networking on consoles. However, I think a better comparison would be, instead of something like Steam Groups, having something like Google+ Circles (actually, what Jeff described sounds a lot like Google+ circles).

It was a problem for a while because next-gen was still being used for this one.

More jar time!

He wasn't telling him to stop playing games and be mean about it, he's saying it if you're staring at review scores and then flipping out when a game you like didn't get as good of a review score as you think it deserves. I think Jeff is 100% correct on the matter.

i played in the beta the no clothes was a bug i got some new pants and when i equipped them they didn't show on my character.

"Jar Time" is going to end up in a gaming hall of fame some day.

Personally I find it grosser when people vilify a developer for breaking promises that they never made in the first place. But hey, if you think it's cool to bitch about something that only exists in your imagination, more power to you.

Hmm. I'm not really sure what the difference between a good question and a bad question is anymore.

I guess that's why I don't write questions

It's funny, I was a freshman in college when Goldeneye was big, and what Jeff said is completely true. I lived in a large dorm, and nearly every afternoon was spent in someone's room playing splitscreen, multiplayer 007. The game was simply the right thing at the right time for the right people. I imagine that Halo was the same deal for some folks. I didn't play Halo until I bought a 360, so it never had the same level of nostalgia that Goldeneye has for me. That's one of the magical things about games, movies, music, etc. Sometimes they just click.

I really dislike the claim that Tetris is the best game ever. I don't ever want to play it ever again, but yo, I'd love to play Mario 64 for another 500 hours. Or Warlords.

I'm with Jeff on the review scores thing. For someone who isn't especially active on this website other than watching the videos, whenever I see anything about scores I get really pissed off just because how tired it has become. It's as if people are perpetually angry 14-year olds who love Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft and won't take (for example) Mario Kart 7 getting a three out of five. I mean, Jesus Christ, when Anthony Gallegos, then of Gamespy, gave Uncharted 2 4.5/5 he got death threats from people, that's just mental.

I can only imagine how grating it would be if your line of work was serving these people with content that they inevitably will bitch about for thousands and thousands of words.

@Duffyside said:

I really dislike the claim that Tetris is the best game ever. I don't ever want to play it ever again, but yo, I'd love to play Mario Brothers for another 500 hours. Or Warlords.

I think he was just really arbitrary with that pick. I would have gone with Mario Brothers myself but I think people are willing to accept something like Tetris based on its history. I mean it is his opinion after all, you don't need to necessarily agree with it.

@DragonBomb said:

@Duffyside said:

I really dislike the claim that Tetris is the best game ever. I don't ever want to play it ever again, but yo, I'd love to play Mario Brothers for another 500 hours. Or Warlords.

I think he was just really arbitrary with that pick. I would have gone with Mario Brothers myself but I think people are willing to accept something like Tetris based on its history. I mean it is his opinion after all, you don't need to necessarily agree with it.

Yeah, I'm not like pissed off or anything dude. But he didn't just pick it out of thin air. He's said Tetris is probably the greatest game ever made multiple times, as have other people. And I AM disagreeing with them and stating why; I never want to play Tetris, in any form, ever again. But there are lots of games I've played MORE than Tetris and would gladly play still.

Again, not mad about it, have just thought about it since he last said it and this was a good time to voice my disagreement.

@AngriGhandi said:

Hmm. I'm not really sure what the difference between a good question and a bad question is anymore.

I guess that's why I don't write questions

Agreed.

@Duffyside said:

@DragonBomb said:

@Duffyside said:

I really dislike the claim that Tetris is the best game ever. I don't ever want to play it ever again, but yo, I'd love to play Mario Brothers for another 500 hours. Or Warlords.

I think he was just really arbitrary with that pick. I would have gone with Mario Brothers myself but I think people are willing to accept something like Tetris based on its history. I mean it is his opinion after all, you don't need to necessarily agree with it.

Yeah, I'm not like pissed off or anything dude. But he didn't just pick it out of thin air. He's said Tetris is probably the greatest game ever made multiple times, as have other people. And I AM disagreeing with them and stating why; I never want to play Tetris, in any form, ever again. But there are lots of games I've played MORE than Tetris and would gladly play still.

Again, not mad about it, have just thought about it since he last said it and this was a good time to voice my disagreement.

Nothing wrong with disagreeing- it always leads to discussion! While Tetris may not be my favorite game, I usually see why people cite it as one of the best games ever made for several reasons.

1) It's longevity. Tetris has stood the test of time and despite being a very basic game, it continues to be one of the most popular, most-played games. Clearly there is something at work here that clicks with people.

2) Beauty in its simplicity. Tetris is, at its most basic level, a pretty simple game. Move blocks, stack them up, repeat. But the gravity, timing, and shape of the tetrinos created something really special. Easy enough so as to be accessible to all and challenging enough to be difficult to master.

3) Tetris comes from a time when games were all about the mechanics. Amazing graphics, etc. didn't really matter as much as they do now because they just weren't possible. So what really mattered were the mechanics and Tetris really shines. The controls, the aforementioned gravity, etc. as so fine-tuned that it's, well, perfect (depending on who you ask, I suppose).

Just thought I'd throw in my two cents and add to the discussion! Now to watch the video...

@Duffyside said:

I really dislike the claim that Tetris is the best game ever. I don't ever want to play it ever again, but yo, I'd love to play Mario 64 for another 500 hours. Or Warlords.

I think you're in the minority when you say that you would never want to play Tetris ever again.